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Aston Villa presents a huge chance for Sambi Lokonga to prove his worth
By Adam Schultz
With Thomas Partey and Mohamed Elneny out with injuries, Sambi Lokonga is in line to start for the Gunners against Aston Villa on Wednesday night.
Midfield is where everyone knows Arsenal need to strengthen and such shortcomings in that department have been exacerbated by a mini-injury crisis.
But for Lokonga, who was essentially a bystander last year due to the Gunners’ lack of games, an opportunity has arisen to start in the Premier League alongside Granit Xhaka as Mikel Arteta’s side attempt to preserve their 100% record to begin the new season.
Aston Villa presents a huge chance for Sambi Lokonga to prove his worth
Zinchenko an option for midfield and Lokonga there as well obviously. Could shuffle the pack a bit with Xhaka dropping into the deep lying role. But it does feel like it would be a gamble for Arsenal not do anything before Thursday night. Feels like they could be a bit short.
— Charles Watts (@charles_watts) August 30, 2022
We saw Lokonga’s quality from midfield last year as he loves to play progressive passes and launch long, diagonal balls. But we have also seen him look a little lost.
There were some defensive lapses, but his work on the ball was pretty impressive and it was no surprise to see him utilised as an advanced #8 by Arteta in pre-season this summer. Lokonga can shield the ball from defenders and turn away in a flash, similar to Partey, which bodes well for Arsenal’s front three.
With Villa struggling as of late, the perfect opportunity has been presented for the 22-year-old to show the fans and the manager that he can be called upon and produce at the highest level.
He will likely see regular game time in cup competitions and the Europa League this season, but he’s certainly capable enough to earn frequent minutes in the Premier League and if Arsenal don’t buy another midfielder this summer, his services will be relied upon plenty.
The system we play now should be able to enable us to plug and play Lokonga into the midfield with reliable support from Zinchenko, Xhaka and Ben White.
— Dayorkun (@DayoDayorkun) August 30, 2022
Sambi Lokonga is really talented. He just really needs to take his chances now with Partey and Elneny out with injury pic.twitter.com/KyQkxfVvbD
Given the back four that Lokonga had behind him at stages last season, which comprised of Pablo Mari, Rob Holding, and Calum Chambers, it was tough for the midfielder to shine. But, he’ll now have the most stable of Gunners defences behind him.
Will that translate into better performances? Possibly as he will have more direction coming from behind him, and if Oleksandr Zinchenko can move into his midfield role when Arsenal have the ball, there is no reason to think that he can’t elevate his game this season. The Ukrainian emanates serenity.
It is a massive chance for Lokonga to step up and show the improvement many expect of him now. He has a year and two pre-seasons under his belt, and with the Gunners flying at the minute, the midfielder could be set for a breakout year in 2022.